CANADIAN STARS GRABBED THE BALL AND RAN WITH IT
Sinopoli, Harris emerge as game-breakers after ratio rule helped them get on the field
The leading rusher in the CFL this season and the man with the most receptions have more things in common than just their Canadian passports.
Running back Andrew Harris of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and receiver Brad Sinopoli of the Ottawa Redblacks are both guys who became professional football players through unconventional means.
They had to make big sacrifices or significant changes just to get on the field, and they eventually benefited from the CFL’s ratio rules (each team must start seven Canadians) to make good on their opportunities.
Today, Harris is on pace for the second-best rushing season ever by a Canadian and Sinopoli is on pace to catch the second-most passes in a season by any CFL player.
The fact is, there’s a chance neither player would have made it to the CFL were it not for the ratio.
“Maybe not,” says Sinopoli, who, at 30, is leading the CFL with 60 receptions in just eight games this season. “In the past I’ve heard Americans, who come up here and don’t understand the ratio, and they look at guys and say, ‘This guy only has a job because of the ratio.’ But when someone gets their opportunity, whether they’re Canadian or American, and they just work hard to prove themselves, they can make it into a starting role. It’s just an opportunity, no matter how you get it, and you’ve just got to take it.”
Sinopoli originally came to the CFL with hopes of playing quarterback — he won the Hec Crighton Trophy in 2010 while playing that position at the University of Ottawa. When that didn’t work out, he switched positions and became a receiver with the Calgary Stampeders.
Now he’s on pace for a 135-catch season, which would be second only to the 160 catches by Derrell Mitchell of the Toronto Argonauts back in 1998.
In Winnipeg, Harris continues to defy the odds.
He’s a kid from Winnipeg who didn’t even play university football. Instead, he spent two seasons playing for the Vancouver Island Raiders and practising with the B.C. Lions.
Today, the CFL’s reigning most outstanding Canadian (he beat out Sinopoli for the honour in 2017) leads the league in rushing yards with 720 in eight games and is on pace for a career-high 1,620 yards.
He’s just a football player. And a darn good one at that.
“For me I’m just a professional athlete that plays in the CFL, and the passport doesn’t really come into my mind or play into any situations as far as my day-to-day approach to attacking the game or even the success I’ve had.”
While Harris and Sinopoli are clearly the front-runners for the most outstanding Canadian award this season again, they’re certainly not alone.
Linebackers Chris Ackie (48) and Henoc Muamba (46) in Montreal are second and third in the league in tackles behind only Winnipeg international linebacker Adam Bighill (49).
Nic Demski of the Blue Bombers is a dual-threat slotback who has scored four touchdowns.
Kwaku Boateng of the Edmonton Eskimos is tied for second in the league in sacks with five, and Calgary Stampeders linebacker Alex Singleton has 45 tackles.
This is not to even mention all the Canadian talent on offensive lines around the league.
For me I’m just a professional athlete that plays in the CFL, and the passport doesn’t really come into my mind.